Control and counter actuating mechanism



Dec. 31, 1957 D. c. PEARL 2,818,213

CONTROL AND COUNTER ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 16, 1954 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

Dec. 31, 1957 D. c. PEARL CONTROL AND COUNTER ACTUATING MECHANISM 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 16, 1954 CONTROLLED DEV/CE Fla 6 INVENTOR.

DOW/ L0 J3 PD? A coNrnor. AND COUNTER ACTUATING MECHANISM Donald C.Pearl, Lake Zurich, Ill., assignor to Raymond T. Moloney, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 16, 1954, Serial No. 450,085

3 Claims. (Cl. 235-92) This invention pertains to coin-control devices,particularly the measured-service variety adapted to close a switch andactuate some other instrumentality for a predetermined period of time inresponse to deposit of a proper coin.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a switch-operatingmeans coacting with a measured-service coin switch and acting to operatea totalizing meter during the duty cycle by energizing the same onlymomentarily to thereby avoid holding the meter device energizedthroughout the period or cycle during which the main control switchremains operated.

A further object is to provide a one-way switch-operating lever meanscooperable with a timing motor and switch-tripping means to actuate ameter or like switch positively but for only a brief interval duringeach timing operation notwithstanding that the timing motor normallyacts upon the main coin-switch mechanism during the entire cycle toprogressively condition the same for snapaction restoration to normalopen-circuit condition abruptly at the conclusion of the allotted timeperiod, the object being that the counter or like switch will bedeliberately and fully operated to assure accurate counting, but neednot be held energized during said time period.

Additional objects and aspects of novelty and utility characterizing theinvention relate to details of the construction and operation of theswitch-operating and control means described hereinafter in view of theannexed drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a time coin-controlledswitch unit employing the new totalizeractuating means;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational detail of the coinswitch andcooperating counter-switch parts of the unit of Fig. 1, the motorunit'being removed;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional detail of the motor, coin-switch andcounter-switch assembly, taken to slightly enlarged scale, looking up inthe direction of lines 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a schematic functional diagram;

Figs. 4a and 5b are perspective operating details for the one-way switchlever;

Fig. 6 is a schematic illustration of the reverse or oneway switchoperation.

In Fig. 1 there is shown the partial inside view of a coincontrol unitincluding a metal box 10 in which is housed a conventional coin-testingchute 11 adapted to accept a ten-cent coin through a top opening 12 andsubject the coin to the usual testing operations as the coin descendstoward an acceptance or reject exit at the bottom of the chute. Ifacceptable, the coin will gravitate from the testing device into anauxiliary coin-switch unit 14 (Fig. 2), which includes a narrow coinpassage defined between a front wall plate 15 and a parallel rear plate,not

seen.

The accepted coin continues to gravitate to the exit tates Patent 0 ice16, and on the way strikes the offset coin-engaging end part 19 of aswitch-actuating lever 18 pivotally mounted at 18a on an adjoiningswitch housing 17, with the result that the lever is moved down into thedotted-line position shown in Fig. 2, and the offset end 19 thereofoccupies the position indicated at 19a. Being of magneticallyattractable material the offset part 19 is held in its position at 19aby a small, lower, permanent magnet 25 (Fig. 3 also), and will remain inthis condition until forced out by the snap-action of a special kick-outhammer actuated by the timing motor.

As a result of the movement and holding by the lower magnet of theswitch lever 18 in lowered position, as aforesaid, the contact leaves 30of the principal control switch are closed by action of an insulatingpin 20a on one of the balancing wings 20 of the hub structure of lever18 pressing against the nearer contact 30 when the lever is depressed bythe falling coin. Contacts 30 of the principal switch are thus heldclosed so long as the offset part 19 of the switch lever is held in theattracted position at 19a. The main switch lever 18 is preferablydynamically balanced by the wings 20 and appertaining hub structure, andmay be of the type disclosed in the pending application of Frank G.Nicolaus, Serial No. 147,216, filed March 2, 1950, now Patent No.2,800,212.

Means for tripping out the magnetically-held switch lever 18 includes aspring kick-out lever arm 35 (Fig. 2) clamped in a bracket 36 to projectin the general direction of the main lever but at a level therebelow andhaving a free end portion 35a located about opposite the coin exit 16.

Spaced inwardly of said free end of the spring-blade tripping lever is abrass hammer stud 37 positioned such that when the spring arm istensioned downwardly and let go, the stud hammer will fly back andstrike the offset 19 and kick the latter part upwardly free of theholding influence of the lower magnet 25, thus abruptly breaking theprincipal circuit theretofore maintained by closure of contacts 30 bythe switch lever means 18, 19, 20.

Time-controlled means for actuating the spring kickout lever 35, 37, asaforesaid, includes a clock motor 40 carried on a bracket 41 held inparallelism in front of the chute plate 15 by screws 42 (Figs. 1 and 3)engaged in the box wall.

Projecting from the motor housing (Fig. 3) is a driven shaft 45 havingfixed thereon a small collar from which project radially three cam pins44 so disposed as to engage the free end portion 35a of the springkick-out lever as the collar is rotated slowly by the motor, which, inthe embodiment shown, turns the shaft 45 through one revolution in 3minutes; since there are three cam pins the kick-out lever will beactuated once every minute.

Installed within the box 10 is an electromagnetically actuatedtotalizing meter or counter 50 (Fig. 1) of known construction and havingan actuating coil 51 shown schematically in Fig. 4. Heretofore, it hasbeen necessary to connect said counter-actuating coil in parallel withthe winding 40a of motor 40 with the result that the counter coilremained energized for the duration of the timing cycle. This waswasteful of current and also more costly in that a more expensiveelectromagnet was required for the counter to withstand the heatgenerated in each duty cycle.

According to the present improvements, coil 51 is pulsed onlymomentarily during each duty cycle by a special one-way switch meanscoacting with the kick-out lever. As viewed in Figs. 2 and 3, thespecial switch is carried on an angle bracket 53 clamped at 36 with thespring kick-out lever, the switch being shown to advan tage in Fig. 3and being a stack-type switch with a pair of normally separated springcontact blades 54 clamped between insulating wafers 55, along with anoperating spring blade 56 which has a free end 57 projecting somewhatbeyond the contact blades and is separated from the latter by a strip offish paper 58.

Pivotally mounted at 68 on the motor bracket 41 is a one-way lever 61(Fig. 3) movable in a vertical plane (Fig. 1) and having its downwardmovement limited by one of the mounting screws 62 for the timing motor(as in Fig. 3), this lever further having its outer end struck over atright angles to provide the offset 63 upon which is mounted by screws 64a one-way actuating finger 65 for the special counter switch. The springblade 56 is so dimensioned and positioned in relation to the arc oftravel of the actuating finger 65 that the latter presents an upperleading edge 65A to the outside face of the spring blade 56 upon upwardtravel of the one-way lever 61, pressing the blade 56 inwardly towardthe contacts 54 and causing the latter to come together in closedcircuit relation; but on the downward travel of the one-way lever thefinger 65 presents a lower leading edge 65B against the inner face ofthe spring blade 56 and moves the latter outwardly and away from thecontact blades so that there is no switch action whatever by thisaction. These operations are illustrated schematically in Figs. 5a and5b.

The lever 61 actuates the switch means 56 only when moving in onedirection (upwardly) as aforesaid, and it is therefore convenientlyreferred to as a one-way lever.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will appear that owing to the arcuate path ofblade 65 the latter will strike the centered switch member 56 onopposite sides on the way up or down, the operation in only one of thesedirections effectively actuating the switch.

Oscillation of the one-way lever 61 is effected as a function of cockingor tensioning of the kick-out lever 35 by means of the provision ofanother offset 66 (Fig. 3) underlying said spring lever 61 so that asthe cam pins 44 press the free end of the latter downwardly the onewaylever will be pivoted clockwise or upwardly, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4,and close the counter switch contacts in the manner heretoforedescribed. When any motor cam pin trips off the free end of the kick-outblade to effect abrupt release of the latter to free the principalcontrol switch from magnetically held condition, the oneway lever islikewise abruptly released and gravitates counterclockwise back to thefully-lowered normal position shown in Fig. 4, it being pointed out that(as seen in Fig. 1) the position of this one-way lever is partiallyraised and is above the stop screw 42.

The switch lever 18 (Fig. 2) is normally raised by action of the nearerone of the coin switch spring blades 30, in which position themagnetically attractable end 19 of this lever is opposite an upperpermanent magnet 22 adjustably held by set screw 23X in a brass collar23 staked into an upset lug 24 on plate 15.

The purpose of this upper magnet 22 is to hold the lever 18 againstfraudulent actuation, as by jarring the unit, this feature being moreparticularly described in the aforesaid application Serial No. 147,216.The weight of the deposited coin is sufiicient to start and force lever18 downwardly into the zone of influence of the lower magnet 25 asheretofore described.

The operation of the device in view of the simplified showing of Fig. 4is as follows: assuming acceptance of a proper coin by the testingdevice 11, said coin will gravitate onto the offset end 19 of the mainswitch lever 18 and dislodge the latter from the normal holdinginfluence of the upper permanent magnet 22.

The weight of the coin moves the main lever 18 to fully lowered positionin which the offset end is held by the lower permanent magnet 25, one ofthe hub parts 20a of the main lever bearing against and closing togetherthe main switch contact blades 30 to operate any controlled device 70(such as a vending or amusement machine) via conductors 68, 69.

Said contacts 30 also close circuit via conductors 68, 69 for thewinding 40A of the timing motor, and in due course one of the cam pins44 will flex the kick-out spring 35 to the dotted-line tensionedposition and suddenly free the same to snap back upwardly and throw thebrass hammer stud 37 against the held offset 19 on the main switch leverand kick the latter upwardly and free of magnet 25.

While the kick-out blade is being tensioned downwardly by a cam pin, theone-way lever 61 is pivoted clockwise, owing to the presence of itsinner offset 66 beneath said kick-out blade, and pushed downwardly withthe latter. The clockwise or upward travel of the oneway lever causesthe finger on its outer offset 63 to flex the actuator blade 56 inwardlyand close the contact blades 54 together and energize the counter coil51 via conductors 71, 72, 73; and when the kick-out blade is abruptlyreleased, the one-way lever will also be released and dropcounterclockwise back to normal position, this time flexing the springactuator blade outwardly and therefore ineffectively relative to thecontact blades 54.

Thus, the counter is operated once during each duty cycle of the mainswitch mechanism and is held energized for only a portion of theduration of said cycle, notwithstanding that it is actuated cooperablywith the main control switch by power derived ultimately from the timingmotor while the latter is tensioning the kick-out release means foroperation.

The long leverage on the counter or one-way lever 61 provides arelatively faster motion for the finger 65 in actuating the counter ormeter switch means 56, so that the duration of energization of the metercoil 51 is further shortened. In addition to shortening the duration ofthe closed-circuit time for the counter, a further advantage arises ineliminating one of the sources of faulty operation of the counter owingto accidental and deliberate pulling-out of the power-line plug, therestoration of which could cause false actuation of the counter in theold system where the counter coil was held energized for the full dutycycle.

I claim:

1. In a switch-operating mechanism, in cooperative combination: a firstswitch device including an actuating part movable from operated tonon-operated conditions; a spring blade device mounted to be flexed intotaut condition for release to strike said part of the switch device anddislodge the same from said operated condition; a motor connected to beenergized by actuation of said first switch device, and cam means drivenby said motor to flex said spring device to tautened condition andabruptly release same to dislodge the switch device as aforesaid; a longlever pivoted near said spring blade device to be turned from a startingposition in a first direction in the aforesaid flexing operation; and asecond switch device actuated by said lever in movement thereof in saidfirst direction to transiently actuate said second switch device, butnot effectively actuating the latter in reverse movement; said springblade device upon release as aforesaid permitting said lever to turn ina direction opposite to said first direction for return to said startingposition; and a counting device including electrical operating meanstherefor connected for energization by said second switch device foractuating the counting device under control of the aforesaid transientactuation of said second switch device.

2. In a measured-service switch mechanism, in cooperative combination: atiming motor and rotary cam means slowly turned thereby; a springtransiently tensioned and abruptly released periodically by said cam; afirst switch including an actuating member movable into an operatedposition adjacent said spring and adapted to be dislodged from saidposition by said release action of the spring; a one-wayswitch-operating lever pivoted near said spring and having a long leverarm and also a short lever arm with a portion disposed on a side of saidspring to be engaged and moved thereby only by tensioning action of thespring, whereby to pivot said lever and the long lever arm in a certaindirection against the action of gravity, said lever arm dropping in theopposite direction following release of said spring; second switch meansactuated by means on said long lever arm only in movement of the latterin said certain direction; and a meter device connected to beoperatively controlled by said second switch means; together withcircuit means including said first switch operable for starting andstopping said motor, said first switch being connected with said motorto control the latter responsive to movement of said first switchactuating member into and out of operated position as aforesaid.

3. In combination, a first switch-operating member having a normal andan operated position and means yieldingly holding same in said operatedposition at least and appertaining first switch means actuated therebyin said operated position; a spring hammer adapted to be tensioned bymovement in a certain direction and released Cir for reverse movement tostrike an operating blow upon said first switch-operating member in theoperated position of the latter; together with a timer motor and camturned thereby to tension said spring hammer; a second switch-operatingmember mounted adjacent said spring hammer and pivotable in a firstdirection by the latter in tensioning movement thereof in said certaindirection and to pivot reversely by gravitation when said spring hammeris released as aforesaid; and a second switch means including a membertransiently engaged and moved by a part of said second switch-operatingmember in both directions of movement of the latter, said transientlyengaged member being moved in opposite directions corresponding to theopposite direction of movement of the second switch-operating member;and said second switch means having contacts closed by movement of saidtransiently-engaged member in only one direction of movement thereof;and a meter device connected to be operatively controlled by saidcontacts; together with circuit means controlled by said first switchmeans in said operated position thereof to operate said timer motor.

No references cited.

